A Way To Book Las Vegas Strip Hotels Without Resort Fees (And Lower Rates, Too)

by Gary Leff

Dec 15 2020

One of the most annoying features of hotels is the resort fee, a mandatory charge that’s not included in the room rate in order to deceive customers – to make a hotel look less expensive than it is. The practice spread beyond resorts to city hotels, and became known as a ‘destination charge.’ Even with many of the supposed-inclusions the resort fees pay for suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, the charges persist.

Las Vegas is a city where resort fees play a hugely distortionary role. Hotels cut prices to rock bottom levels to fill rooms. And there’s a way to get an even further discount – and skip the resort fees. Hotels that want to compete in the future need to pay attention.

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Last Day To Convert Southwest Airlines Travel Credits To Points

by Gary Leff

Dec 15 2020

When Southwest Airlines extended elite status back in April, and made it easier this year to earn both status and a Companion Pass, they extended the validity of travel vouchers.

There’s been discussion for months about being able to convert travel funds into Rapid Rewards points and that functionality is finally available. The rate is reasonable but I won’t be taking them up on the offer. Here’s why.

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Six Men Charged In Federal Court With Stealing Millions Of American AAdvantage Miles

by Gary Leff

Dec 14 2020

Six men were charged with “stealing millions of airline frequent flier miles” in the Northern District of Texas. While the Department of Justice doesn’t say this, the court in which charges are being brought includes Dallas and almost certainly means they’re prosecuting a theft of American AAdvantage miles.

The lead defendant was arrested in Poland in May and extradited, arriving in FBI custody on Friday after weekend travel from Warsaw to Dallas. I’ve been involved in several criminal trials involving miles and points as an expert witness. This is the first one I’m aware of that involved an international arrest and extradition.

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10 Reasons Airlines Are Lying About The Need For Subsidies In Order To Distribute Vaccines

by Gary Leff

Dec 14 2020

Right now there’s a stronger likelihood of a second round of airline subsidies from the federal government than at any time in the past several months. It appears that $17 billion more for airlines is included in the next scaled-down federal stimulus bill, and legislative leaders in the House and Senate plan to bundle it with must-pass funding measures to keep the government running and avoid a shut down. Now legislators have a Friday deadline.

Airlines have deployed the argument that the vaccine means they need subsidies because they’ll have to scale up operations to be prepared for cargo shipments, and even though they’d be paid to ship cargo somehow they are unable to prepare for that on their own. This is, to put it bluntly, a lie. Here are 10 reasons why.

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Boeing Paid The Families Of The Lion Air 737 MAX Crash. Their Lawyer May Have Stolen The Money.

by Gary Leff

Dec 14 2020

The Boeing 737 MAX is ungrounded. Part of moving on, though, isn’t just getting regulators to sign off on the plane. It’s making things right with the families of people who lost their lives. Boeing paid out a substantial settlement, but Lion Air 610 families say their lawyer – made famous by the movie Erin Brockovich – stole the money to support himself and his reality star wife.

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